


love story

by Anonymous



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Prostitution, Angst and Tragedy, Fluff and Angst, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, Implied/Referenced Torture, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-02
Updated: 2018-12-02
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:08:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27800536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: was it hopeless from the start when i first saw you standing there shining beneath the streetlight?
Relationships: Kim Jongdae | Chen/Park Chanyeol
Kudos: 11
Collections: Anonymous





	love story

**Author's Note:**

> This is an old one (2014) I wrote, but it is based on my most favourite song, and I can't not share it. So, enjoy this cliche to its greatest glory!

**I** t was getting dark at where he was. It was nowhere else than his friend’s place. Even when indoors, the cold air could still sneak through every hole possible to enter the small wooden apartment.

It was almost New Year again in China. Chanyeol just couldn’t wait for the fireworks and the firecrackers, especially the red pockets. He just couldn’t wait to whine for one from his Chinese friend.

“You sure you want to take that job?” His friend laid down on soft thick blanket sprawled across the wooden floor – looking up at his tall figure.

“Dude, it’s the only job that fits with my abilities.” Chanyeol ignored the worried stares and stood straight up as he dusted off his suit. His only suit.

“Still anything – even a construction worker would do just fine.” Concerns were filled his voice.

“Don’t worry, Xiu–ge.” Fixing his hair, he smiled at his older friend. “I’ll handle things. You know I can.”

“Ahh... Chanyeol, you scumbag.” The guy threw a nearby pillow up at him. “You never listen to me, do you?”

“Hehe...” He blocked the fluffy material easily and swiftly. “You worry too much. Maybe that’s why you aged a lot more than you should be..”

“Hey! I _am_ _still_ young!” His friend frowned deeply along with a loud yell. “Damn you!”

“Come on! I have to find a place myself, and I can’t keep staying at yours just because I can.”

“Chanyeol... Don’t.”

“I have to work, and this is the only job that will help not only me but also you since the payment is high.”

“Come on, now. It’s risky.” He never thought of his friend as a burden. It was his friend. Friends help each other at times in need. “You don’t have to do it.”

But, of course, young age, young blood, he decided to do things impulsively. Chanyeol only lifted up his right hand – signalling him to stop and walked to the front door. “I’m going to be late for the first meeting. I’ll be home soon.”

“Yah! I haven’t finished!”

“If anything I’ll give you a call! Bye!”

And he flew out of there. Chanyeol knows his friend way too well. Xiumin would run after him if he has to in any situation.

He only hoped this job would be worth his time.

+|+|+

“Thank you very much, good sir!” Chanyeol laughed in a business manner as he picked up the envelope.

“I see that you are very good at what you do.” The man sitting across him was also dressed in a suit and tie like him, but he could tell that the fabrics were much more expensive.

“So much...” He just couldn’t stop smiling cheekily as he peeked in the envelope holding the many thick banknotes.

“I expect the connection between us to be smooth and without any complications whatsoever.” The boss stated in between sips of his whisky.

“Yes, sir! Yes.” Chanyeol replied, chuckling.

“And that’s my right hand, Oh Sehun.” He quickly addressed the man who had just entered the small yet luxurious room they both were in. “He’ll be the one in charge of things around here when I’m not present.”

“Ah, I understand.” Chanyeol bowed respectively at the serious-looking man.

He did not respond, but he did bow back in return of manners. He was also in his suits. His perfectly gelled black hair was lifted up – showing off his small smooth forehead. The sharp jawlines with the pensive expression really scared him a little, he had to admit.

“And you can work with the men. I’m sure they would like a friendly man like you as their companions.”

“Of course!” Chanyeol smiled politely back at the intimidating old man as he slid the envelope into his breast pocket, patting it lovingly.

“Good. I look forward to seeing your work.”

+|+|+

Chanyeol was just walking back from the building. It felt strongly of uneasiness of the idea of working there. Xiumin was right about the job.

Despite how it easy it might be, places like this required no mistakes or else you wouldn’t make it out alive. Then again, Chanyeol was a fighter. It wouldn’t be a problem for him.

It was late at night. The streetlights did help him avoiding bumping into this man standing there near the bus stop.

Chanyeol stopped himself before getting closer to him and took a seat on the cold metallic bench, breathing in the chilly night after a tiring walk.

He didn’t get to see his face. All Chanyeol could see was that the man was standing outside of the waiting spot. There was something profession in the way he stood, in a straight posture – no slouching, no arms crossed. His dark hair and gentle curls appeared warm orange underneath the streetlight.

Chanyeol then looked forth to the street. The busy road. Even at nights, the city was still alive.

Right then, he heard a voice.

“Really? You did? That’s amazing!” The soft and kind voice was heard from his right. Where the man was standing. “Take care! Keep safe and stay healthy!”

Chanyeol didn’t know what had gotten into him, but he was interested, wanting to hear more of that voice.

He looked at the man again. This time he could see that he was clutching a designer black clutch bag. Chanyeol stared at the handsome white button-up he was wearing. The seemingly expensive gold hand watch he had on his left wrist. His tailored slacks appeared to work well in showing off his handsome build. 

The man had just put his phone back into his bag. His soft curls fell to the side as he did so.

As Chanyeol found himself smiling for no reason, the sound of the bus engine roared in front of him. The bus was finally here.

The door slowly slid open and he stood up walking forth, but Chanyeol let the man go first. Chanyeol slightly nodded at him as the man walked past and up the bus. He then followed closely behind.

Chanyeol had already got his money out in his hand when he saw that the man before him still was still struggling to find anything within his clutch bags.

“Here. For two.” He then paid for them both.

By the end of his eyes, he could see the man finally noticed his presence once Chanyeol leaned in past him like that. His eyes were wide. The man appeared speechless. Like this, Chanyeol could feel the difference in their builds. This man was so much leaner than man.

“Ah, long time no see, eh?” Finally, Chanyeol got a glimpse of his face. “Come on, let’s take a seat!”

Surprised by his friendly attitude, the man flushed at Chanyeol motioning him to go first.

There weren’t many people on the bus. It was late already. And this was the last bus stop of the night. It was lucky for them to have caught up with the bus at the last second. Really saved Chanyeol a long walk back home.

Walking to the back, the smaller man then finally took a seat by the window, and Chanyeol quickly sat next to him when the bus started moving again.

“I’m very sorry–” The man started.

“Ah! There’s no need. It’s good instincts to help each other out.” He was careful not to touch him despite how small the space in between them was.

“How about I return a favour?” The man couldn’t help but smile at his cheerful self. For a guy to dress up in a suit like Chanyeol and be this polite must have shocked the man.

“Nah~~” Chanyeol waved his hand around. “This is perfectly fine. You don’t have to return anything.”

“But–”

“This is just a bus ride. You don’t have to make a big deal out of this.”

The man then let out a small giggle. His small hand clasped upon his lips as he tried to stop smiling at Chanyeol.

And Chanyeol thought the man had a nice laugh, a nice voice.

The bus ride was silent. The man looked out to window while Chanyeol stole glances of him. Chanyeol thought he was already in too deep when the man face’s had him at daydreams. And his voice.

Chanyeol wanted to hear more.

When Chanyeol was about to finally start a conversation, a buzz was heard. The red light was on. Once the bus came to a stop, the back door slid opened and the man next to him stood up, leaving him.

Chanyeol was winging it at this point, deciding to quickly follow behind before the door closes on him.

The cold air hit his face hard. His hands shoved into his pockets. His hair flew to the wind.

“You’re heading home?”

“Yes?” The man was surprised to see the same guy standing behind him like that. Great, now the man was scared of him. “Uhh..”

“If you are, you shouldn’t go alone. Let me walk you home.” With a thin smile, Chanyeol continued, looking down to the man’s face. He had a point. This man looked... expensive. Chanyeol was only trying to make sure he wasn’t hurt. “You know it’s not safe out here.”

“No, you don’t have to...” The man gulped in between sentence.

“Trust me! I know to fight.” Chanyeol then lifted up his left hand and flexed his biceps just to make a point.

As much as the man was scared of this man in a suit, he chuckled at his showing off.

“Look. I’ll keep a distance. All I want to do is get you home safe.” Putting his hand back into his pocket, Chanyeol lowered his tone to a serious one and pulled off one of his charming smiles.

The man then looked down to his shoes, smiled shyly, and nodded. He walked off first. He was still afraid of him, but he tried to trust him since this man did help him out.

“Park Chanyeol,” He spoke after a long silence.

“Oh... I’m Kim Jongdae.” After a while, the shaking feeling was replaced with a safe one as Chanyeol walked beside him – keeping a distance as he promised.

“Dae?”

“Jongdae–”

“I’ll call you Dae.”

It took all of Jongdae’s courage to speak first. “You’re not from around here, are you?”

“Yeah?” 

“My mother’s Korean. You’ve got that Seoul accent like hers.” The man looked away trying to hide his smile.

“She must be proud to have a handsome son like you.”

That made Jongdae shivered slightly, but he recovered well without Chanyeol knowing.

“It’s around there. You can leave if you want now.” Jongdae pointed to the big apartment, and Chanyeol followed his motion. “Thank you–”

“No, no, no! I have to go upstairs with you! Let’s go!”

At first, his big eyes really were scary for Jongdae, and now they just looked harmless and cute for some reasons in the way he pleaded with his gaze. Jongdae gave him a tired look but couldn’t resist the puppy eyebrows and walked in.

The place was luxurious. The receptionist was there sitting in her desk tapping away on her phone. Once she noticed the two, she stood up and bowed politely. They did the same.

The elevator came into sight, but Jongdae walked past him and towards the stairs.

“Your room is on what floor?” Chanyeol stopped walking and asked Jongdae who was already a few steps up the stairs instead.

“Seventh floor?” It came out more like a question.

“Then let’s take the elevator,” He beamed brightly. “It’s pretty far up.”

“I’m fine–”

“No, it’s been a long walk, come on.”

“It’s fine–”

“Let’s go!” Chanyeol was always demanding, dragging Jongdae back down, holding onto Jongdae’s small wrist loosely.

He then pushed the button when the elevator door slid open, walking in with Jongdae. The pretty man was resisting slightly but got onto it anyway.

Once again, Jongdae was scared. Jongdae was afraid of Chanyeol again.

Chanyeol simply held his hand like that without realising as he looked up to the numbers of the floors.

Jongdae had his head held low through the whole elevator ride, and when the door slid open again, Jongdae walked out first. Chanyeol who was amazed by the bright colors within the elevator was stunned and let go of his hand.

Stopping in front of the room, Jongdae tapped in the code to his apartment.

“My my!”

Before Jongdae could even step into his own house, he had already poked his head in and started walking around. To have let a complete stranger into his house was something Jongdae had never done before. Then again, he could barely remember bringing anyone to his house. Ever.

“Woah! This is awesome!” His eyes were big and full of hopes and dreams as he wandered around the expensive-looking place.

Jongdae lifted his hand to try and stop him, but he couldn’t think of any words to say, seeing how pure Chanyeol’s expressions were.

“That’s a big TV! Is that like what? 82 inches?” He almost fell to the side when the big screen on the wall popped up in color. “I have one, too! Just 10 times smaller.”

Jongdae chuckled at his statement.

“Wah... This is amazing! And, Oh!” A ringtone was heard and Chanyeol immediately reached in his pocket. “Excuse me.”

Watching him fidgeting with his phone, Jongdae tilted his head to the side. Such a grown man to act this childish. Was he putting up a disguise? And when did he ever agree to let Chanyeol come to his house again?

And Jongdae watched curiously as Chanyeol answered his phone.

“Ahh! Gege!” He let out a hysterical laugh. “Late? What? Hey, you know what? I’ve found a place to stay. So, you don’t have to wait up for me. You don’t need to know where!”

“Wha–”

“Shhh!” Chanyeol hushed Jongdae when he tried to speak up. “Trust me. I’m not sleeping on a tree again. It’s real this time. Yeah, I love you, too! Good night!”

“You can’t just–” Jongdae started once he was off the phone.

“Favor. Remember?” He lifted his finger up, pointing out the obvious.

“But–”

“Right here. I will only sleep right here. I won’t go anywhere else, but here. This will be my home sweet home spot.” He plopped himself on to the couch. “Man, this is so soft and comfortable!”

Jongdae smiled at him in disbelief, sighing in defeat.

“Yeah, it’s good! You have any spare towels and shorts?”

Letting out a quiet chuckle to himself, Jongdae shook his head at Chanyeol who was busy poking around his furniture.

_Moral Lesson: Always bring your money with you._

+|+|+

Jongdae stopped browsing the channels when the familiar cartoon popped into his expensive screen.

“ _Thomas!!_ ” In the TV, the woman’s shouted across the room, calling out for the mischievous cat. “ _Thomas!_ ”

“Oohh~~” All of a sudden, Chanyeol then rushed into the room with ramen in his hands both in excitement and swiftness – being that the bowl was hot.

Jongdae hung his mouth open at how Chanyeol just shoved him to the side of the couch and took a seat as Chanyeol placed the bowl on the glass table.

Jongdae didn’t care about the cartoon on the TV anymore and stared at Chanyeol curiously. 

Chanyeol brushed his hands together, trying to rub off the burn in his palms, and lifted up the lid from the bowl while he grabbed his chopsticks.

“Wanna eat?” Chanyeol asked, but before Jongdae could say anything, the giant quickly forgot about him and watched the TV instead. “Nah~ Never mind!”

If there was a fly, it would have flown into Jongdae’s mouth. This piece of work of a man... The guy had this cunning ability to piss people off without trying.

Chanyeol then started to eat his noodles and slurped his soup loudly.

Jongdae could only turn back to the cartoon and rub his forehead in disbelief.

“Thomas!” The comical scene made them giggled.

And even his mouth was full of food, Chanyeol still managed to laugh at the cat and mouse.

It was a Monday afternoon. It was a free day in the week. Jongdae had decided to stay in like always, but he didn’t expect it to be this weird with this one change in his house. Then again, Chanyeol was a weird roommate.

As the long cartoon went on, Jongdae inevitably fell asleep on the couch. No one could blame him. It was comfortable on the couch, plus it’d been tiring, his job, and the fact that Jongdae wasn’t a morning person made it hard for him to just get through the morning without feeling tired.

So, Jongdae spent the rest of the afternoon sleeping, getting all his sleep back from sleepless nights, and for him only to wake up to a half–naked man in front of him.

“Ahh!” His hand quickly found its way to his lips, clasping his mouth.

“What!? Why are you screaming!? Intruder alert!” Chanyeol quickly held out his hands and defended himself as he looked left and right.

“You! Go away!” Jongdae blocked his eyes with his arm. Chanyeol was really testing the roommate boundaries now. Sure, they were both men, but Chanyeol was too revealing at this point.

“Oh... So, there’s no one here? Good. I’m just asking where the shampoos are.” His high pitched tone lowered down to a cool deep one.

Such a serious situation Chanyeol made it sound.

“In the bathroom, behind the mirror!”

“Wait, there’s a door on the mirror? Cool~~~”

Once his voice drifted off, Jongdae lifted his head to see that Chanyeol was gone.

Looking at the clock, he realized it was seven o’clock in the evening already, and he had to call for some take–outs for the night.

Jongdae sighed. his head was heavy since he was woken up too hastily like that. He had never been forced awake like that, and it was extremely unpleasant.

Now, Jongdae was going to have nightmares thanks to him.

He had decided that he’d given up on Chanyeol.

The guy had this lack of self-awareness around him that might just drive him insane.

If Jongdae wanted to survive with him, he had to roll with it.

+|+|+

Chanyeol stood there at the bar, letting the colours of the artificial light burn his eyes.

While he was clenching onto the envelope full of money blissfully through his jacket, he noticed the handsome man who was perfectly dressed next to him began to walk off with a client. He quickly regained his composure and followed the two to their room.

Opening up the door for them, he bowed till they’d gotten in and closed it. He then turned around and waited.

It was all he had to do. Making sure everything goes as planned and the price would be paid as promised.

It was quick money Chanyeol needed, so it didn’t matter if this place ticked him off. He tried not to think about it, ignoring the many pretty faces disappearing behind closed doors and come back out dishevelled and tired. It was quick money for them, too, so Chanyeol tried to keep it professional for them and not look. 

With the jazz music in the background, but the tension in the air was thick, he decided to relieve the stress with a smoke. It’d only been a few days since he started working, and it was already getting to him this much. 

There was certainly nothing good about it either, smoking. It’d been years since he started smoking, but he still didn’t understand how this weird taste could be addicting and relieving.

“Mr Park.” A familiar voice spoke to him lowly.

“Evening! Boss!” He stopped leaning onto the wall and quickly bowed to the man in front of him.

The man only nodded slightly back as in greetings. Chanyeol was about to get rid of cigarette on his lips when he stopped him. “It’s fine. Keep the smoke.”

It was awkward to speak to the boss while smoking since it looked rude, but it was... allowed. “Ah... Yes, sir... Am I in need?”

“Yes, actually. You see something came up with my driver and he is unavailable for service at the moment. And I was thinking if you could finish his job for today.”

“Of course, sir!” Chanyeol kept distance – making sure the smoke wouldn’t irritate him.

“Good. Here’s the address. Get my coworker back home.” He handed the small piece of paper to Chanyeol. “Drive safe, got it?”

“Yes, sir.”

Chanyeol stared at the address for a while and watched his boss disappear in one of the many rooms. With a sigh, Chanyeol put away the note in his pocket and took out another cigarette, smoking the evening away.

+|+|+

He stood there, hands in his pockets, looking up to how high the building was in front of him. From left to right, he noticed that there was no one around in sight. Such a strange and ominous feeling he was getting from this lonely structure.

He couldn’t see anything from outside of the glass building. Once he finally decided to step in, he let out a deep breath and pushed the heavy glass door which seemingly should be opened by a doorman.

It was even weirder that there was no one there at the check-in desk. It was like the place was haunted. 

He cleared his throat and looked around the deserted place. There was really no one despite the perfect maintenance the place appeared to have.

Right then, a small ding was heard, disturbing the eerie silence, and he jumped slightly.

It was the elevator in front of him. And because of instincts, he rushed into the moving device before it closes on him. Before he could even push the button, however, it automatically sent him to the 6th floor.

There was no elevator music and it was getting a little spooky for him, but at the same time, he was curious to where this lift would bring him to.

And finally, the door slid open.

He was looking at his new slick shoes he had just got to match with his suit today when he looked up to a familiar face.

Way too familiar.

“Dae?” Chanyeol parted his lips in disbelief, surprised to see here in this empty place. He peeked out of the elevator and looked back at Jongdae.

He was wearing a neat light grey button-up, a few buttons loose revealing tender collarbones. His hair seemed soft and loose. 

“What are you doing here? What’s going on? Aren’t you at work?”

Jongdae stared back to him blankly for a while as if he was trying to process everything as well and stepped into the elevator with Chanyeol without another word.

“Hey...” Chanyeol started again once Jongdae passed him to the back of the elevator.

“What’s with the pleasantries?” Jongdae kept his tone dry and looked Chanyeol in the eye. Chanyeol thought the light hazel contacts on Jongdae’s eyes added to the coldness in his gaze. “Just do it.”

Chanyeol frowned at his demand. “What?”

“Do what you’ve come here for.”

Chanyeol only deepened his frown as an answer.

Jongdae sighed and slid one hand beneath his soft grey button-up, ripping it open, buttons flying everywhere – revealing more of his white soft skin, the lean muscles underneath the ruined fabric.

“Woah! Hey!” Chanyeol quickly looked away, startled and reddened at the sudden half-naked state of Jongdae. Confused at the action, Chanyeol whined out, “What the heck, Dae!?”

“Aren’t you going to do anything?” Jongdae asked him in a mocking way.

“No! Stop what you’re doing! I don’t understand!”

Jongdae was getting angry with all of the fake acts Chanyeol was putting on now. It was all the same with them. Jongdae thought so the first time he met him.

“Well, aren’t you here to fuck the elevator boy?”

Chanyeol then looked back to the man before him in his ripped shirt, now noticing the slight makeup Jongdae had on his face.

Soon, the space within the elevator felt claustrophobic.

Then, Chanyeol registered the tight slacks Jongdae had on, too. Chanyeol huffed with a broken smile, the fact that this was connected to his boss, of course.

It was silent all the way down. Chanyeol staring down at Jongdae and Jongdae staring up at Chanyeol annoyed, slowly getting fed up with Chanyeol’s intense gaze.

It took a while for the elevator to get to ground zero. The door slid open slowly.

Jongdae was about to scream at Chanyeol out of due to frustrations when, out in the night, there was a bright light beaming off a familiar car.

It finally hit Jongdae.

“You’re the driver?”

Chanyeol didn’t even blink, watching Jongdae’s eyes faltering beneath him.

“Oh... no...”

Chanyeol only let out a deep breath and brought his hands to run them over his face. Hard.

Jongdae didn’t get it. Jongdae knew the gravity of his job. He was ashamed of it, but he never thought that there could be anything more shameful than what he was doing, but he was wrong.

The fact that this man Jongdae barely knew discovering him like this was more disappointing than anything ever he had ever done.

Chanyeol shook his head, breathed deep, and let out another breath. With that, Chanyeol began to take off his jacket.

Jongdae was still in shock, not knowing what Chanyeol was doing, and all Jongdae could do was stilling himself and closing his eyes, dreading the big hands that were coming close to his body.

Then Jongdae felt the silky material brushed against his skin and over his shoulders. Opening up his eyes again, Jongdae looked up to Chanyeol who was covering him with his jacket.

Jongdae had never been comfortable with physical contact, but for once for Chanyeol to be this close to him was something different he felt from the past.

He could feel the warmth of Chanyeol’s body within the jacket. He could tell that Chanyeol was burning up even in the air-conditioned elevator.

Without waiting, Chanyeol stormed off to the car parked in front of the building, making Jongdae flinch on the way out.

Slowly, Jongdae walked out of the elevator and put his arms in the longs sleeves, trying to keep himself together, biting away the whimpers threatening to spill from his lips. The warm sleeves covered his arms up to till the tips of his nimble fingers. Jongdae then hugged himself tight within the big blazer, wanting to hide from this unbearable tension.

Jongdae watched from behind at how Chanyeol brought his hands to forcefully loosen his tie, popping his button on his collar open.

He shook in fear when Chanyeol entered the car and closed the door loudly, freezing his small fragile body up. But Jongdae soon recovered and walked on until he was standing at the side of the car looking at Chanyeol fuming in the driver seat.

His dress shirt was unbuttoned to his chest. The tie was messed up and hanged loosely around his neck. His big bright eyes that once were filled with warmth and tenderness had gotten sharp and dark as Chanyeol stared coldly to the road in front of him. Jongdae could see the white in Chanyeol’s right hand as he gripped the steering wheel.

A brief of cold air swept across the area – making Jongdae shiver to the night.

“What are you waiting for? Get in.” His deep voice tinged with the Korean accent called out to him through the car’s window.

It made Jongdae inhale a sharp breath. Jongdae was too scared to even move now.

“What are you just standing there? Get in!”

A rough snap in his voice and Jongdae shook as he quickly unlocked the backseat door and climbed in. He was careful not to make any eye contact with Chanyeol directly and through the mirrors, fixing his eyes on the outside of the car.

The ride back home was unbearable.

Jongdae thought he could stop himself from feeling anything, but his silent tears betrayed him.

The only sounds were the blinkers of the car and other dull noises of cars passing them by. 

Chanyeol closed his eyes briefly as he drove in a normal speed, not wanting to let his feelings flare up at the speeding. His head rested back completely on the seat, feeling drained from everything.

Finally, they arrived back at Jongdae’s place.

Chanyeol waited for him to climb out of the car and drove off, finally speeding away into the night, leaving Jongdae on the entrance of the building alone in the cold night.

Jongdae sighed hopelessly at the disappearing car and walked into his apartment complex. He didn’t even greet the receptionist this time, walking straight to the elevator with his head down as he held himself tight.

He then got to the seventh floor and waited for Chanyeol in front of the door. The digits on the touchpad were lighting up, waiting for Jongdae to punch in the code.

Jongdae didn’t how long he stood there, waiting for Chanyeol. His mind was wandering everywhere, remembering their encounter. Jongdae felt so guilty, and he couldn’t even explain why. This man who was going to share the apartment with him for who knows how long made Jongdae realized how such a terrible person he was. Jongdae never felt this shit before. 

As he was leaning back against his door, footsteps were heard from the stairs.

Jongdae looked up to Chanyeol breathing hard through his nose, hair dishevelled, muscles strained from climbing so high up.

“Open up.” Chanyeol tilted his head to the door as he spoke in an exhausted tone.

Jongdae somehow felt bad, knowing that he took the stairs because of him.

“Hurry up. Open it!”

Following his orders, Jongdae tapped in the code.

Chanyeol then rushed himself through the door before it even slid open completely.

Closing the door, Jongdae walked to the couch and sat comfortably on it, trying not to think about it too hard now. It’d been a long night.

Jongdae could hear Chanyeol going through his stuff in the background.

After a while, Chanyeol came back out in Jongdae’s white tank top and tight pants that rode up to Chanyeol’s shins since Jongdae didn’t have any other pants for his size. He would’ve snickered at the clothes, but Jongdae didn’t feel like laughing at the moment.

Then, a big towel was held out to his face and following the arm, it was no other than Chanyeol’s along with his annoyed face.

“My jacket,” Chanyeol stated simply.

Jongdae took the white and soft material in his hand and watched how Chanyeol walked off giving him space to work with. Technically, he didn’t have to walk away, but Jongdae supposed Chanyeol couldn’t handle staring at his body at all anymore.

Taking off the jacket, Jongdae then felt something thick within the breast pocket. Jongdae didn’t need to look. He already knew what it was.

Jongdae placed the jacket onto the glass table before him carefully and began to drape himself with the towel instead.

“My, my...” Chanyeol came to Jongdae again this time with his tailored slacks in his arm. “Life is hard, isn’t it?”

Jongdae only brought his legs up to the couch and hug them, staring silently at Chanyeol who was getting ready to clean up his only suit.

Chanyeol took his jacket from the glass table and sat down on the floor across Jongdae. “What? You’re not washing up? Ah... Really easy for you to make money, huh?”

Jongdae didn’t even flinch at the words. He just thought Chanyeol was lamenting about the both of them at this point. There was no need to argue about the obvious.

With tired bloodshot and tearstained eyes, Jongdae kept watching Chanyeol straightening out his suits and tie with his bare hands, strongly pinning on the corners of the fabric, keeping the suit in shape.

“I’m finally able to sleep in a comfortable place now with you. Oh, and let’s not run into each other too much in the bar. Us knowing each other has to be a secret to the boss, got it?” Chanyeol then stood up once he finished fixing up his suit, leaving it within the blanket to keep it from crinkling.

Once Chanyeol left the scene, Jongdae breathed out.

Then Chanyeol walked back in the room, staring at Jongdae with just as burned-out eyes.

“Hey, you don’t touch that suit. It’s my favourite. Good night!”

+|+|+

His vision blurred as he tried to climb up the stairs. He could barely keep himself awake at this point. All he could do was shaking his head, clearing up the darkness with his eyes, and keeping on climbing.

Jongdae had his designer’s shoes with the thick heels in his right hand as his left one was holding the wall trying to support his own weight.

His eyes stared soullessly at the endless stairs he had to climb. His whole body felt like rubber.

It was always how it went. Every night, he had to endure it and drag himself back home and get ready for the next day.

As Jongdae struggled up the stairs, he completely forgot about Chanyeol who was following him close.

Chanyeol’s heart was heavy as he watched Jongdae’s limp body. He wanted to help. Chanyeol wanted to walk by his side and lend him a shoulder to lean on. He wanted to scoop Jongdae up and get him to bed where it was safe and sound, so Jongdae could sleep without worries, but Chanyeol knew he couldn’t. He must not.

Chanyeol couldn’t touch him. Not now. Not when he was already touched.

His angry and worried eyes stared at Jongdae’s small shoulders shaking from time to time.

He followed Jongdae from behind keeping distance, so Jongdae wouldn’t feel alerted and scared.

Once they reached the apartment door, Jongdae opened it, entered the building and closed it.

Chanyeol stood outside – staring at the number pad attached to the door, waiting and waiting.

It was fine. He remembered the code, but he stood there still staring.

After a while, he breathed out heavily and shook his head. He didn’t get it. This man had to be suffering like this. And Chanyeol couldn’t do a thing about it.

All of his training couldn’t make this right. Just like how a bullet could still kill him in one shot even if he was good at hand-to-hand.

Finally, he decided to go in.

When he was in the place, he could faintly hear the shower was running from the bathroom.

He then walked to his ‘home sweet home’ spot and laid down on the couch with his head resting on the armrest.

It was the way things go.

Jongdae would go to work. Chanyeol would wait and pick him up.

Jongdae would come into the apartment without inviting him in, forgetting his presence. Chanyeol would wait outside until Jongdae was in the shower.

Jongdae would stay in the shower for who knows how long. And Chanyeeol would listen to the water running in the background until he fell asleep on the couch.

He sighed deeply once again and reached the glass table for the remote control, turning on the TV.

He didn’t like to sleep in suits, but there were nights he didn’t have any strength to even take them off. This was one of those nights.

And as Chanyeol occupied himself with the TV, he fell asleep on the couch with the TV still on, drowning out the long shower, soothing him his worries to slumber.

+|+|+

“Haahh~~~” Chanyeol yawned lazily while trying to keep his eyes open. “Dae–ah! We’re going to be late!”

Jongdae heard the call, but he did not reply. However, he was standing there in front of the hotel’s glass door, frowning at Chanyeol.

Jongdae was thinking again.

Some of the things Chanyeol didn’t understand about him. Why didn’t Jongdae stay up at the apartment and look around to see he had forgotten anything first rather than think about what he had missed later when he’s already down here?

Chanyeol just couldn’t help bringing his right hand to cover his yawning mouth due to them getting home late last night, and now it was already late in the evening again.

After 2 months doing this, Chanyeol really needed to accept the fact that this well–paid job required him and Jongdae to work at late nights with unsociable hours.

He looked back to the purple dimly lit sky through the glass window. As he gulped away the lump in his throat, he felt the tightness around his neck and realized it was his very same suit. The only suit he had.

No worries. He did good laundry. His suit was first priority. Chanyeol knew how to take care of his suit well.

“Hmm.” Jongdae sighed breathlessly as he tucked away a loose strand of hair before his eyes while he was getting comfortable on the leather seat.

Chanyeol was snapped awake from the little trance he was in by the loudly closed doors from the passenger seat.

“Took you long enough...” Chanyeol said softly because of the fatigue, but mostly because when he glanced through the rearview mirror, he saw the man in this same space with him sat there with effortless elegance and spoke with a gentle voice Chanyeol never failed to fall for, and this amazed Chanyeol every single time.

His dress shirt was of pure black silk, quite light, and a few of his buttons were left undone, revealing the slight dip in his tender chest.

“Let’s go.” Jongdae’s voice was sheer delight for Chanyeol.

“Oh. Yeah.” He shook himself off this time, chuckling quietly to himself for being way too pervy and concentrated on the road.

+|+|+

The faint music was playing tenderly at the bar.

With the couch to himself, Chanyeol sunk into the soft material with one hand on the armrest while the other held onto his cigarette.

As he watched how the colourful lights dance slowly to the slow before him, he inhaled the smoke, keeping his mind away from where he was.

He then heard heels clicking beside the mellow music in the background, but he ignored them.

“Park Chanyeol.” A sharp voice spoke to him. He felt the presence beside him.

He looked up to see none other than Oh Sehun himself looking down to him resting on the couch.

“Sir.” Chanyeol stood up slowly – trying not to look too scared beneath his intimidating expression.

“Take him home.” Chanyeol had been with this guy for a period of time now, and he was sure that the way he speaks was different from what he had heard before. And it sparked interest in him.

There was a different dialect in there, and Chanyeol couldn’t tell which part of China was the guy from.

And Jongdae was right there beside him as well.

“Yes, sir.” He then plucked the cigarette from his lips and tossed it backwards. The smoke landed perfectly on the bowl on the glass table and put itself out.

Chanyeol kept a distance when he walked Jongdae out of the building.

Jongdae was silent as always when leaving. his eyes were always at the ground.

Once they got to the car, Chanyeol got to the driver seat first – knowing full well that Jongdae was going to open the door by himself permanently, wanting no help.

Chanyeol looked away – couldn’t bear to see his face like always.

It was halfway home when he thought of something.

“Hey, Dae–ah, tomorrow’s a day off. Wanna...” He trailed off when he looked in the rearview mirror. “Dae? Dae-ah?”

His eyes were shifting from the road to the rearview mirror, and he saw the man behind was lying sideways on the passenger seat.

It may be just the sleepiness, but Jongdae didn’t normally fall asleep this quick after his job.

Chanyeol decided to slow down and stopped the car to walk to the backseat.

He opened the door silently and slowly reached his hand to Jongdae and touch his forehead gently.

“Ah...”

Jongdae was burning up. Chanyeol tilted his head to see him clearer, and he was hugging her chest. The beats of sweat rolling down his neck Chanyeol noticed, and he let out a soft sigh. Jongdae was running a fever and obviously needed help.

Scratching his head nervously, he bit his lips and decided to help Jongdae out.

He lowered himself down to the car level and hold his small shoulders, pushing Jongdae to sit up. While keeping him seated, Chanyeol used his free hand to take off his jacket and managed to drape it around Jongdae’s shoulders.

Jongdae groaned to the actions – making Chanyeol flinch at the sudden noise. Chanyeol then quickly, but carefully fastened the seatbelt across his body for safe keepings.

And with nowhere else to go upon his severe condition but the hospital, he turned the car around and headed on to the destination.

+|+|+

His eyes opened. The ceiling of his apartment became clearer to him.

It took him a while to realize that he did not have any dream whatsoever. It was complete darkness. A total blackout.

What a miracle for him to come across one of those dreams. Jongdae always loved those dreams that were void of the past, total darkness. 

The corner of his lips twitched a small smile. Maybe he would learn to dream of nothing much later in life, but last night’s blackout was enough for him to keep going.

Jongdae began to push himself up when a massive headache suddenly plagued his peaceful mind.

“Argh...” he grumbled lowly with his left hand clutching his head.

When he did so, he finally noticed the black sleeves around his arms. Taking a look down to herself, Jongdae saw that he was wearing what must have been Chanyeol’s jacket over one of his designers’ dress shirt from last night.

He squeezed his eyes shut – waiting for the pain to dissipate.

Once the pain was gone, Jongdae sat there on the bed for another minute to absorb the surroundings. And that was when his tired eyes caught something else or perhaps someone.

He knew it was no other than Chanyeol that was sitting there on the floor, his back leaned onto the edge of the bed.

Chanyeol’s head was lowered deeply, but Jongdae couldn’t tell what he was doing.

Jongdae then got off of the comfy bed and slowly approached Chanyeol’s side only to discover a sleeping Chanyeol there still in his white dress shirt, tailored slacks, and dark blue socks.

His tie was a bit loose. The sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, and his hair was a mess.

Sitting in his sleep... This guy could’ve at least laid down for a more comfortable sleep.

What Jongdae didn’t notice was that his eyes weren’t completely shut, slightly open. His eyes had the blankness of someone half–asleep.

“Dae?” Chanyeol, suddenly aware, groaned to his sore muscles, his right ruffling his own face, forcing his own sleep away. He slowly looked up to Jongdae standing there staring down back at him. “Go take a shower.”

Jongdae was about to say the same to him but held it back – realizing he hadn’t cleaned himself up since last night.

And so Jongdae silently walked away and took the shower, taking his time like always.

Jongdae had his oversized white t-shirt on with his shorts as he stepped out of the dressing room.

It was 2 o’clock in the afternoon.

Into the kitchen, he was about to get himself ready to cook when Chanyeol still in his same clothes was there, working around the kitchen.

Surprisingly, the table was filled with food – mostly soup and porridge. There were steams coming out, too, freshly cooked it seemed.

“Come. Eat.” Chanyeol said simply without turning back to Jongdae while still wiping the kitchen counter clean.

Jongdae was surprised at him doing that. And something about Chanyeol doing the housework, cooking in his suit made him blush.

Jongdae couldn’t help thinking about how nice Chanyeol seemed when he was actually serious about being nice.

“I didn’t cook by the way. I went over to my friend’s house and asked him for help. I only heated it up for you.”

Jongdae was half-way sitting down, and that statement made him fall to his butt on the chair hard. So much for thinking highly of Chanyeol.

“Oh. You’re okay?” Chanyeol turned to see what the noise was about.

“I’m fine. I’m fine.” Jongdae shook his head and cleared his throat in between words.

“You have to eat that. You’ve got a fever.” Chanyeol finished cleaning and drying his hands up and walked to Jongdae’s side.

“Okay.” Jongdae stared at the food on the table.

“The heat is slowly cooling off, I see...” Chanyeol being intrusive Chanyeol leaned in, placed his hand on Jongdae’s forehead, and beamed brightly downward at flustered Jongdae. “You don’t have to take any medicine since you’re not in much pain now.”

Seeing his small smile made Jongdae’s cheeks burn, but seeing his eyes made Jongdae wonder if Chanyeol had gotten any sleep last night.

“Did you even sleep last night?”

Chanyeol simply stood back straight. Tugging on his tie, he silently took it off and started unbuttoning his silky dress shirt while he walked to the bathroom, leaving Jongdae in the kitchen alone.

Jongdae shook his head and sighed at him not answering the question.

His silence must have meant yes.

To have somebody taking care of him like that... Jongdae felt flattered but also grew restless for Chanyeol at the same time, guilty at what he had made Chanyeol went through. However, it wasn’t as if Jongdae could do anything about it. Chanyeol never pushed him to do anything, but once he did, Jongdae found himself simply following. 

He then began eating the late breakfast as he listened to the comforting sound of the shower running.

+|+|+

It’d been a while that Jongdae got ready for a cleanup, but he was excited as he got ready, feeling better recovering from the fever. 

As he vacuumed the apartment in peace, he found the giant man that was sleepy Chanyeol sprawled across the floor, drooling all over his carpet.

“Yah, why can’t you sleep on the couch?” it was his home-sweet-home spot, but apparently this was not the case. Chanyeol was an insufferable roommate if anything.

Jongdae tried kicking him away, but Chanyeol slightly whined in his sleep and rolled around the carpet even more.

“Oh, god.”

Jongdae was determined to get his spring cleaning spirit done, pushing past Chanyeol, uncaring of whether or not he had enough sleep, vacuuming around his giant overgrown body. It was still _his_ apartment _._

He tried to hold it together though.

Chanyeol looked ridiculously big in Jongdae’s tight shirt and pants, drooling endlessly in his apartment.

It was always confusing with Chanyeol. Jongdae never knew when to take him seriously sometimes, but while Chanyeol scratched away as his butt, Jongdae chuckled and grew hysterical at the man instead, cleaning at the expense of ruining Chanyeol’s sleep.

Maybe, this wasn’t too bad, spending his Sunday cleaning up, forgetting about everything and focusing on Chanyeol’s stubbornness to sleep through his incessant vacuuming.

+|+|+

“Such a young lad...”

“How come I’ve never seen you before?”

“He’s been here quite a while actually.”

“Hey, cutie! Come here! Come closer!”

“Oh my God! So built!”

“Ah... Yes?” Chanyeol was walking in the front when he slowed down and waited for ladies behind him to catch up.

They then gathered around him and inspected him.

He scratched his ears nervously at what they were doing, and all of a sudden his arms were locked with the ladies beside him as they walked on.

He was in the middle of the group of five very pretty ladies.

Couldn’t really say that he was enjoying it, but it was something.

“So, you’re working here, huh, Mr Security?”

“Ah, yes.” He let out a nervous laugh while looking from side to side.

Maybe it wouldn’t have worked on him that well if they hadn’t put on such low–cut dresses.

“I feel safe just having you like this.”

“Where do you come from?”

“You look so young...”

“Do you have a girlfriend?”

It was a long way to walk to where he had to let them go and it was the longest bestest moments of his life.

“Bye-bye, cutiepie~”

“Uh, bye...”

And just when Chanyoel thought it was over, they all turned and blew him goodbye kisses as they walked into the building, well, more like ‘swayed’ into the building.

“Ah!” He let out a squeal like a little fanboy he was once they all disappeared into the building.

He turned around still daydreaming when another person appeared in his sight.

“Park Chanyeol!”

He was smiling at the previous moment, but he suppressed it immediately once he saw Jongdae there.

“Who were they?”

“Uh... Women?” No matter how hard he tried, that straight line kept getting curved up into a cheeky smile every time. “Dae, huh–”

Jongdae was already in front of him and placed a hand on his chest.

“Dae, what are you– Ah! AHHH! Ow! OWW!”

Those nice manicures Jongdae had been getting... They were quite deadly.

“It hurts! It hurts!!! STOP!” He wanted to push Jongdae away and claw his hands off, but he couldn’t. “No! Not my manboo– Ow!”

Jongdae kept on pitching him there as he dragged him further from the area.

“Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!” Jongdae finally let go and he quickly rubbed the pain off his chest. “What the hell, Dae!?”

“Who were they?”

“They were women! So!?”

“I know, but why were you with them?”

“Hey! I have to escort them safely to this place!” He frowned at Jongdae’s ridiculous act. “And why does it matter when I’m with people?”

“It matters if you’re going to live in my apartment.”

“Oh, shut up! I’m a very busy man!”

Jongdae raised an eyebrow at him and crossed his arms. Suddenly, Chanyeol registered the loose buttons on his silver dress shirt, and the biceps in Jongdae’s arms tightening weren’t going to help solve this problem if Jongdae crossed his arms tighter...

And Jongdae did.

“Look, you’re not the only one I have to escort.” The pain was still there, but he placed his arms on his hips instead, trying not to look like he was just molested (though he kind of was). “You think, the money I get comes from just guarding you? I’m sorry, but my job is more complicated than yours.”

Jongdae scoffed at Chanyeol’s phrasing and rolled his eyes at the sentence.

“It is! It is, okay!? See what you just did? I have to put with that!” Chanyeol thought he might have screwed up on that last sentence, but he still argued.

Jongdae shook his head in disbelief. 

“Plus, it’s not like I could do anything... They ganged up on me...” Chanyeol then hugged himself and looked away, hiding his blush.

“Urgh! You’re so annoying.” 

“Hey, wait! Get back here! Hey!!”

Jongdae stormed off childishly – leaving him to yell like a mental person.

“The hell with this man... I was in such a good mood... I mean, I didn’t do anything wrong...” He shook his head and with his hands still rubbing his chest, he followed Jongdae, still trying to process what just happened.

+|+|+

He stood there just outside the ‘VIP’ rooms. The boring waiting hours were getting on his nerves, so he decided to light up another smoke. It wouldn’t hurt for just a drag.

He had the cigarette in between his lips as he searched his breast pocket for the lighter when the sound of glass shattering filled his ears rather than the soft slow song playing in the background.

He ignored it the first time – paying no heed to the noise. Maybe it was just an accident.

But then he heard it again.

Immediately, he turned and walked forward to find where the source as he put away the smoke and the lighter.

Passing the many rooms, they were all quiet except this one room that he was approaching.

He knew who was in this room.

“You just do _whatever_ I say!”

He opened the door to see a couple on the side of the room sitting comfortably on the couch, and another couple on the opposite side, a man that had his back at Chanyeol yelling at a man who had his face in his hands.

Jongdae was holding his cheeks.

Chanyeol stared blankly for a moment before he walked forth to grab the man by the collar and dragged him away from Jongdae.

“Hey, hey, hey! What the fuck! Let go!”

Jongdae finally lifted his head up to see Chanyeol was there for him when another figure appeared in the room.

“Get out of the way,” Chanyeol spoke lowly to Sehun who barely changes his pensive expression to anything at all.

Sehun did not move to his command.

“Hey, Oh Sehun, get the hell out of the way!” He yelled louder this time as he let go of the old man behind him.

Sehun only sighed and ignored Chanyeol whilst he went over to Jongdae and held out his hand. “Let’s go.”

“You. Let go of him.” Chanyeol tried to stop the two as they approached the door.

“Yah... You don’t even know what consequences are, Park.”

He had the upper hand of being bigger and stronger than Sehun, but everything else? None.

And so, Chanyeol watched helplessly as Sehun roughly dragged Jongdae by the wrist out of the room.

+|+|+

It was the stairs again.

The many steps they had to take to get to his apartment was ridiculous, but neither of them complained.

Jongdae was in front, and Chanyeol was lagging behind as always.

And because of what happened that night, Jongdae didn’t get to do anything. 

Jongdae bit his lips and looked straight up forward – afraid that Chanyeol would catch him staring.

Chanyeol, on the other, scratched his neck at the same thought and felt shy, actually standing up for Jongdae and prevented the worst from happening.

But Chanyeol didn’t prevent the worst from happening to himself.

Having something like that happened, they knew it wasn’t going to be pretty. The boss wasn’t going to be happy about it.

As he stood quietly in the corner watching, Sehun couldn’t see any clearer as the two of them disappeared higher up the stairs, but he knew what was going on already.

He didn’t need any more proof. 

+|+|+

Like always, he stood there in front of the VIP rooms. And from this angle, at the bar were Jongdae and Sehun. Jongdae had his back at the both of them while Sehun was facing him – staring directly at Chanyeol.

It was tense needless to say.

He glared back at Sehun when another man appeared in front of him. It was the boss.

Chanyeol bowed slightly – looking down to his shoe. And as for the boss, he looked intensely at Chanyeol for a few seconds then looked to Sehun and tilted his head – motioning the guy to follow him.

Sehun broke eye contact with Chanyeol and stood up. He then took hold of Jongdae’s hand and tried to lead him when Jongdae yanked his hand off – making him stare down at Jongdae just as heatedly.

The force was enough to make his jacket flew back. Jongdae saw something there in the belt. It was hard to see since it was dark and his whole suit was black, but either way, he saw it.

Jongdae ignored it and walked forward passing Chanyeol without giving him a glance, and Sehun followed him close behind.

Chanyeol watched them disappeared into the further rooms.

As he waited like always, this time, however, he couldn’t bring himself to light up a smoke. It was too nerve-wracking, to begin with.

And after a long while, he stood there in a cocoon of the neon lights of the bar, anxious for Jongdae, anxious of what was behind closed doors.

During the wait, he was interrupted by a pat on his shoulder.

“Job well–done.” Sehun lifted his head, staring down Chanyeol.

“What?” Chanyeol didn’t get the news.

“Take it.” With an envelope in his hand, Jongdae slipped it into Chanyeol’s breast pocket. “You will die if I see you again.”

He gave Chanyeol another pat on the shoulder when Chanyeol got Sehun by the collar, furious at his every single scumbag moves. “You son of a–”

“Yah, you want him to die, then?” Sehun smirked despite the tightening grip on his neck.

He let out a chuckle when Chanyeol couldn’t say anything and yanked Chanyeol’s helpless hand off his collar.

+|+|+

He was pacing restlessly in front of Jongdae’s door after his final escort for the men this time. They were flirtatious like always, but he didn’t care much about that. All he had in mind was Jongdae.

How was he going to approach this properly? Because whatever way he took, it was going to end up bad, and he didn’t want Jongdae to get involved with him anymore. 

He had spent the long drive back here thinking the best way to solve it all.

And he knew that what Sehun had said was all true and so, Chanyeol decided he had to leave.

He knew he was going to leave Jongdae there to continue his horrible job, but at least Jongdae wouldn’t be harmed, and he accepted that. He had to.

He was nervous to say goodbye. He didn’t want to. He was in way too deep now, constantly worried about Jongdae, now that familiar with Jongdae’s habit, Chanyeol didn’t want to stop. He’d fallen way too deep.

And that was why Chanyeol should let him go.

He took a deep breath and decided to finally open the door. And one thing certain that only Jongdae and he knew the passcode to this place, but to his surprise, before he could punch in the code, the door automatically slid open to his presence. It was strange of Jongdae to leave the door unlocked.

As it slid open further, the inside of the apartment became clearer to him.

He stepped in almost immediately only to find the place in a complete mess.

The many shattered pieces of glass everywhere. The chairs were flipped. The decorations were all over the place. The books. The lamps. The table was turned and the big TV was broken as well. Everything was damaged and broken.

But what caught his eyes the most were the pictures on the broken glass table with the knife over them. It was a picture of a young woman holding a certificate and Jongdae standing there locking arms with her with a bright smile. And another was an old woman in a hospital bed with all of these tubes attached to her hands and her face.

Chanyeol never really asked Jongdae about his life. They both never asked each other anything about each other’s lives, knowing how complicated their situations were, but this was enough to explain Jongdae’s life.

He dropped the pictures and quickly went on looking for Jongdae.

It took him not long at all to find Jongdae in the bathroom – sitting there on under the shower, hugging himself, soaked in his oversized white dress shirt. Jongdae stared blankly at the marble floor as the water dripped down from his body. His whole body was soaked.

Chanyeol’s heart stopped for the millionth time.

He breathed out in exhaustion and lean himself on the wall, banging his head back against the cool concrete, looking away for a breather to find himself even more suffocated when noticed the red painting across Jongdae’s bare thighs.

The many times he had seen Jongdae like this, Chanyeol thought he could get used to it, but he was wrong. He was always wrong. It broke his heart and it always continued to do so. It only worsened every time in every way possible.

Roughly, Chanyeol ran his hands over his face and finally walked forward, turning off the shower. He grabbed the towel nearby and knelt before Jongdae, wrapping the towel around the man gently when Jongdae seemingly burst out sobbing recognising Chanyeol before him and fell forth against his sturdy chest.

Chanyeol simply held Jongdae tighter and with his trembling hand, Chanyeol stroke his shivering back softly, breathing in the steam in the bathroom, taking in Jongdae’s broken cries.

Only once Jongdae quieted down did Chanyeol picked him up bridal style and took him to the bedroom.

He sat the man down on the bed softly and looked at Jongdae, trying to find his wavering eyes. Chanyeol let his fingers push away the wet strands of Jongdae’s hair, frowning at the sharp red marks on his face.

“Listen, you’re going to leave this place. There’ll be no more safety after this. You’re going to pack everything and book a flight out of here. To wherever you feel safe.”

Chanyeol held Jongdae’s vulnerable gaze.

Jongdae thought the arms around him were different, safe. Chanyeol’s calm caring eyes. Jongdae felt that everything was going to okay.

“Got it?” Chanyeol asked once more as Jongdae had gotten quiet.

And Jongdae only nodded in reply.

Determined, Chanyeol then stood up and began to walk off, thinking of the things he would do when his hand was held on.

“What about you?” Jongdae finally spoke to him, a voice he loved so much now sounded so broken, and it only did more to fuel his anger.

He didn’t say anything.

“You’re not going to back there, are you?” Jongdae looked up to see Chanyeol’s as he tightly held onto to his bigger and warmer hand. “They’re waiting for you. You know that.”

Chanyeol turned back and slowly knelt before him once more.

“Don’t.” Jongdae’s voice weakened again. “Don’t go. Don’t go back there.”

Chanyeol returned the same desperation as he held Jongdae’s hand back. His let his free hand, trail up Jongdae’s cheek, pressing gently. Chanyeol stared at Jongdae who was gazing at him with a broken and pleading look.

Chanyeol thought he needed to make sure, make Jongdae strong again, then leaned down and kissed him gently on the lips, afraid that he might break Jongdae into even more pieces if he pushed him too far.

Leaning back from soft lips slowly, Chanyeol still had his forehead against Jongdae’s, staring longingly into his pretty tearstained eyes.

“I’ll be there with you. I’ll be back in one piece.”

With that, Chanyeol got himself up and left the room – leaving Jongdae in more tears at the thought of what Chanyeol was about to do.

+|+|+

It was noisy and busy at the airport, only adding more to his troubled mind.

Jongdae had sent him the departure time, but it wasn’t accurate. The flight leaves at 9:30 pm, but it was 5 o’clock in the text. Jongdae was worried that he might not make it in time. Perhaps, he knew that Chanyeol wouldn’t make it in time.

And as Jongdae sat there with the phone in his hands, his heart raced every minute.

_“I’ll be back in one piece.”_

It was already 5 o’clock and Chanyeol hadn’t arrived yet, so technically, he had already missed the flight.

Jongdae clutched his phone hard as tears started falling.

If Chanyeol didn’t show up and Jongdae was all alone, he had to leave.

Chanyeol did it for him, and he wasn’t going to let him down. He wanted Jongdae safe, so Jongdae had to keep himself safe until Chanyeol arrived and even though he didn’t, it was up to Jongdae then.

An hour until Jongdae had to truly leave.

He wiped his tears away and began to walk off to the toilet to pick himself together before going on the flight. He didn’t want to look any more pathetic than he was already.

As he walked to the men’s toilet, he heard a cry from the area.

Jongdae gazed at the closed door for a few seconds to finally notice something red on the doorknob. Trailing down from the door to the floor, he saw the same red smeared on the floor.

Jongdae quickly opened the door and burst in.

“Lay... Xiu...” The small cry coming from the man whom Jongdae once knew was enough for him to see the hope was still there for him, for both of them.

“Chanyeol! Park Chanyeol!”

Jongdae rushed to his lifeless body, covered in blood. His suit was completely ruined with all of the blood. The red substance was all over his face and in his hair as well. After all this time maintaining his suit, Chanyeol simply gave it all away just like that for him. 

Jongdae cradled him, shaking him into consciousness, staring horridly at the burst veins in Chanyeol’s once bright eyes. So, Chanyeol did make it to him. Chanyeol made it in the end. He kept his promise.

“Park Chanyeol! Park Chanyeol!”

“Dae...” The raw and raspy voice came out of his lips as Chanyeol coughed out.

Jongdae noticed Chanyeol holding onto his stomach. Blood was still rushing from in between his fingers and coughing only made it worst.

“Sehun, that son of a bitch.” It was a knife stab from what Jongdae could tell. It was none other than him. He did spot a knife back at the bar that night. Chanyeol made to him, but Sehun just happened to get the last laugh out of this. That scumbag just had to ruin everything. 

“Dae...” He coughed again.

“Chanyeol... You came.” Jongdae smiled through his tears as he tried to wipe away the red stain on Chanyeol’s handsome face despite the blooming and red and purple wounds on his skin.

“Jongdae...”

That was the first time he even said his name right.

And it was the last.

+|+|+

“You know… It’s almost a month now… The doctor might be right.” This man’s silky voice was calm. “You never know.”

“Well, if the doctor is right...” Jongdae dragged on – his hands clasped neatly on his laps. “Then it will be absolutely amazing.”

“Huh?” He was taken aback by Jongdae’s words. “But…”

“It’s alright. It’s probably for the best.”

It was silence for a while.

“You’re okay, I guess.”

Jongdae finally looked at him. The fact that this man was the same age as he was hard to believe. His accent, however, did give it off that he wasn’t Chinese, but Jongdae was grateful. Without him, JOngdae couldn’t have gone to any place safer.

“And your mom, I’ll go check on her.” He reassured Jongdae and stood up.

“Thank you.” Jongdae stood up as well for polite manners. “Xiumin.”

“No need. I’m just doing a favour.” He beamed at Jongdae once again and walked off.

As Jongdae watched him disappeared by the corner, he turned around and stepped back in the room where he was supposed to be.

The hospital felt so right for him. It was wrong to think of it that way, but to Jongdae, it was where everything could be fixed. Despite what could go wrong, Jongdae held on because even if things went wrong, at least Jongdae knew that the doctors and nurses in this place tried their best. And like a little child, Jongdae had always believed that fact.

Jongdae took a seat on the chair next to the bed and closed his eyes.

Just hearing Chanyeol breathing was enough for Jongdae to cling on to that hope.

As Jongdae was about to fall asleep on the chair like always, he heard a groan. Jongdae slowly opened his eyes to see the man on this bed next to him staring up at the ceiling.

“Chanyeol...” Jongdae was breathing in deeply, pinching himself. 

Jongdae wanted so bad to pull Chanyeol into his arms now that he was awake, but Jongdae held himself back, understanding that Chanyeol was still taking his time. 

When Chanyeol looked around, Jongdae was something that caught his dull eyes.

He stared questioningly at him and tried to bring himself up to sit.

“No, don’t.” Jongdae quickly got up and placed a hand on his shoulder, gently pushing him back onto the bed. “I’ll set the bed up for you.”

He frowned slightly while silently watched Jongdae fiddling with a remote control in his hands. Chanyeol stared at how Jongdae sucked in his soft kitten lips while doing so. Even when he felt the bed was going up, his eyes were still on him. Chanyeol couldn’t stop staring.

“There.” Seeing that the bed went up to a comfortable angle for Chanyeol to sit, Jongdae backed away and brought his chair a little closer to the bed.

“Where...” It was like he was trying to learn how to talk.

“We’re in Korea now. In a hospital.” Jongdae smiled brightly at him, unable to contain his excitement. “Ah, thanks to your Korean friend, Xiumin, all of the communications are a lot easier.”

“Xiumin... Xiu... Lay...” He said it again. He knitted his eyebrows when he said that, but then Chanyeol looked to him. “Dae...”

“Alright, so, how are you feeling, Chanyeol?” Jongdae exhaled in relief.

Chanyeol knew his voice came alive at that moment when Jongdae let out a breath, and it somehow made his eyes crinkled.

“I’m not calling the nurse just yet because I have to ring your other friend, Lay, first. He knows how to speak Korean quite well, and I don’t want to miss out on anything.”

“Who are you?”

“Chanyeol...” Jongdae could only whisper to his question.

It was weird for Chanyeol. Chanyeol knew that he didn’t know him, but this man before felt like home.

This odd urge to wipe away his tears was something Chanyeol couldn’t put a finger on.

And his voice. His voice... Why was it so blissful just listening to it?

Jongdae simply smiled through his tears either way. 

“I’m the one you’re fighting for.”

Though Chanyeol didn’t understand it, he felt safe with this man, watching his kitten smile was enough to set his wandering heart at ease.

**Author's Note:**

> This is based on my favourite song, [‘Love Story’](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xnpFI3PLYs) by Bi Rain.


End file.
